FC Cincinnati needed a mental and emotional reset in the worst way, and through only the grace of their own resilience, they got that on Sunday afternoon in front of a sold out TQL Stadium.
After losing twice in a week and conceding 11 goals, The Orange and Blue needed a new taste in their mouth as they headed into an international break. They got on that on Sunday, coming from behind three times before taking the lead in extra time to secure one of the more dramatic, and cathartic, victories in recent memory.
“I'm proud of the players for the fight they showed. It wasn't a pretty game. It was not how we anticipated things going or drew it up, but to be honest, I don't care. I just like the fight that we saw to close out that game with the guys who were on the field,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said after the match. “How it played out...sure, you'd like it to look different, but they fought, and that's all you can ask for. So, resilience, whatever word you want to use to describe the feeling, how we come out of it…they showed good character.”
FC Cincinnati came from behind three times on Sunday afternoon and overcame a second half red card to score twice and secure all three points from the match. With CF Montréal ahead 3-2 and a red card shown, FC Cincinnati scored twice in the final 10 minutes plus stoppage time to earn their second win of the season with a 4-3 victory.
“It's not always going to be how you draw it up, but that's when you see what you're about. It's certainly a long season, and this is one moment, but it's a promising moment. It's a good sign,” Noonan continued in his address to the media after the victory. “There's a lot to correct. It's not good enough (but) I don't want to bring too much negativity to the three goals we conceded, but I like the four goals that we scored.”
After going down early, FC Cincinnati responded with a goal from Ender Echenique on a brilliant solo effort. Then, after conceding again before the break, FC Cincinnati came out of the halftime break flying as again Ender Echenique created a goal that Ayoub Jabbari finished to give him his first goal in MLS action and level the score again.
Things then turned on a dime once again in the 60th minute with a somewhat controversial decision and moment.
With the game now tied, CF Montréal put a free kick into the box that Miles Robinson went to defend against opposing forward Prince Owusu. The shot attempt from Owusu went high, but the referee pointed to the penalty spot for a penalty kick and delivered a Red Card to the FCC captain for the foul.
Montréal converted the penalty kick, took a 3-2 lead, and put The Orange and Blue behind the eight ball with 20 minutes to play and a man down.
On a different day, that kind of adversity can end a team’s day. The confidence could evaporate and you bunker down and limp into the break. But with their backs against the walls, FC Cincinnati battled back again and that controversial moment became the turn in the game FCC needed.
“What makes me proudest? The truth is, this team never gives up; we never throw in the towel. When the team is motivated—and stays motivated—that energy is contagious,” Echenique said after the match. “That is what truly defines this team: in situations like this, that is precisely when we need to stick together the most.”
“It's not about how pretty it looks. Sometimes you just need the feeling of a win,” Head Coach Pat Noonan also said. “This isn't how we drew it up, but the players experiencing the positive feeling of winning a game in front of our home fans is important in this moment and how they went about doing it with the situation and the circumstances there at the end. I'm pleased for them.”
The comeback started with an opportunistic goal from Tom Barlow, who cashed his first goal in MLS for FCC and his third across all competitions this season. Barlow’s “striker instinct” put him in a good spot on a loose ball in the 80th minute and his quick instincts gave him an open look on target that he banged home for an equalizer.
The comeback was completed in the fifth minute of 12 stoppage time minutes, from the foot of the man who has been responsible for more game winning goals in club history than anyone else. Kévin Denkey.
Nick Hagglund cast out a towering throw in from the sidelines and into the box, and, after a tap up off a Montréal head at the near post, the Togoleese striker pounced and tapped in the rebound for his club-record 14th game winning goal.
One of the most uncommon, and perhaps unlikely, comebacks in club history had been completed. The defense, all still down a man, held out for the remaining seven minutes on the clock and all three points had been secured.
It wasn’t pretty. But that didn’t matter, the job got done when it so desperately needed to be.
“Obviously we've had a tough couple weeks, but that's the type of result that can turn stuff around,” goalkeeper Evan Louro said after the match. “You really saw the grit and determination. At the end of the day, mistakes are gonna happen, stuff's not gonna go our way, but who (cares)? You need to (get up) and figure it out…it was credit to the guys today.”
After a challenging, and in the words of many FCC players and the head coach, “unacceptable” week of performances and results, this was a team who needed a victory and needed to show some fight. Why and how that fight emerged on Sunday afternoon isn’t really meaningful right now, there will be time to evaluate and train for those deficiencies, but showing the kind of resilience they did was important, and sent them off into a break with something to build on and some confidence they desperately needed.
Especially considering what the opposite could have been.
“It's just a big win for us…it was just such a good feeling. I think we put a lot into this game after coming off a tough week and I think everybody stepped up,” forward and equalizer scorer Tom Barlow said. “We said before the game just put your heads down and grind this one out and work together. I thought we did a great job of that…so three points felt amazing.”
“We want to come out and win every game. Obviously we've dropped a few games, but I think as a group, we're still resilient. We're a tight knit group, and we have a lot of belief in the way we play and to come out here and win games, especially here at TQL,” Barlow continued. “There's going to be ups and downs, but I think as long as we stick together, we have a great shot at doing something special.”
Postgame, several FC Cincinnati players explained the emotions of the victory and the catharsis of the comeback. There was a sense that this team was one that always ‘found a way’, and the last week specifically (but really the entire start to the year), challenged that identity. Getting back to that cultural keystone by showing the resilience they did is something that can grow over time, and with a two week break now before their next match, there is time for that to take root…while also fixing the other, more technical elements of their play that still plague them.
“I don't care how it looks. I know in 10 years no one is going to remember, ‘Oh, we played well against Montreal.’ No one cares. They care if you win, and I think that's what this club has done really well in the past couple years,” Evan Louro said postgame on the importance of finding a win now. “I think that's what we can get back to. Obviously, we had a down couple of weeks, but, like I said before, this is the type of performance that shows everybody at the end of the day stuff can go wrong, but we'll be there for each other.”
10 players will now depart for International Duty, but once they return, FC Cincinnati continue MLS action with a two game road swing to the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC. After that they return to TQL Stadium on April 18 to take on Chicago Fire FC.
With a victory they can now go into that break feeling good and feeling confident that no matter what gets thrown their way, they are capable of sticking together and figuring it out.
It’s hard to know in the moment when a turning point arrives, but for FC Cincinnati, if, after a challenging March, their fortunes start to change, you may want to remember this sunny Sunday afternoon when The Orange and Blue pushed through.
